History of our hobby

[Jim Dix]

On the inside cover of the latest Antique Automobile is a photo of James Melton's Museum. I also have a book written by Mr. Melton about his collection and how and where he bought some of his cars. At this point Mr. Melton is nearly forgotten, along with other early collectors.

Our club prides itself as being founded in 1935. This is great, but as I grow older and as the collectors who started our hobby grow older and pass to the great beyond, I wonder what is being done to preserve the history of our hobby and where it is documented.

Who were the folks that in 1935 started our club? What cars did they have? Why did they start the club? What photographic documents exist of the early meets?

Saving our historical cars is one thing but have we saved the history of our hobby? I think it's something we need to do before its too late! If it's not already.

[Guest BruceW]

There is a 496-page hardback book called the "Official Book Of The Antique Automobile Club Of America: A 60-Year History Of Dedication To The Automobile" written by Bob Litchy and published by Krause Publications. It has a history of the AACA and 450 photographs. The bookis available through the AACA and I believe most of the car book retailers. The book costs around $60.00.

However, right here in the Introduction postion of this web site is a concise history of the AACA. This concise history has been on this web site since the beginning of the AACA website circa 1998.

It goes as follows:

A CONCISE HISTORY OF AACA

The AACA was formed from among a small group of men who attended Antique Automobile Derbies that had began, in 1931,in connection with the Automobile Show in Philadelphia. After the fourth such Derby, Mr. Frank Abramson and Mr. TheodoreFiala conceived of the idea to form an antique automobile club from among the previous year's Derby participants. They approached Mr. Jack Dlugash, promoter of the Derbies, for the participant's names and addresses, which he gladly provided. Their letter, dated September 20, 1935, successfully interested these people in forming such an organization. A meeting was held on November 4, 1935, in the auditorium of the Automobile Club of Philadelphia. Attendance included the fourteen founder members, plus the wife of one. Thus was born America's first historical automotive society, the Antique Automobile Club of America.

The Club's first President, Mr. Frank Abramson, served the first three years. At a March 16, 1936 meeting, automotive pioneer, and AACA Honorary Member, Mr. Charles E. Duryea was scheduled to speak, but had to withdraw due to illness. Mr. Duryea and his brother, J. Frank Duryea, had created America's first commercially successful automobile. This same year a constitution was drawn up and submitted to the membership for approval. Unfortunately, Charles Duryea passed away September 28, 1938. Mr. George M. Hughes was elected President in the fall of 1938 and did much to keep our small club and magazine going, while serving five of the next six years, with 1942 being the exception, when Hyde W. Ballard served as President. During these years, beginning January 10, 1938, various AACA members had meetings in their homes. It was also in 1938 that club member George Green and his wife called attention to the club by making an 8834 mile cross country trip from their home in Lambertville, N.J. to California, touching on Canada and Mexico. The over three month journey in their 1904 Oldsmobile was made with virtually no problems. The first published drawing of the club emblem, as we know it today, was designed in 1939 by Mr. Herbert van Haagen of Upper Darby, Pa. Using a power engraver attachment, many months of labor were required for Mr. van Haagen to produce the original master pattern.

Volume 1, Number 1 of the magazine was first published in 1937 and called the Bulletin of the Antique Automobile with the first elected editor being Theodore Fiala. Beginning with the January, 1943 issue, it was renamed ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE. Through 1944, there had been a number of editors and club membership had reached 400. One of the leading personalities of our Club during this period was Mr. M.J. Duryea, the son of Charles E. Duryea. During the years following, he became Editor of ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE, and, as such, his influence was felt far and wide.

The first Annual Banquet was held on March 1, 1941, with 78 members attending. Speakers were James Melton and Ralph DePalma. During the years prior to 1942 the Club held an Annual Outing at the homes of various members. On October 18, 1942 the Annual Outing was moved to the Lamb Tavern in Springfield, Pa., with eighteen cars participating in spite of gasoline rationing! It was already a tradition. As the Club grew, the Spring Meet was held in different locales and farther afield. In 1944 there was an Annual Spring Outing at the Lamb Tavern, with an Annual Fall Outing at the Oak Terrace Country Club, in Ambler, Pa. on October 7, 1944. The year 1943 had seen Mr. Thomas McKean, Jr. become the first AACA Life Member. On December 15, 1944 a general meeting of the club was held at the Robert Morris Hotel in Philadelphia, where a new Code of By-Laws was discussed. Though not finalized at this meeting, the resulting By-Laws would establish, among other things, the board of directors concept by which AACA would be governed in the future.

The Fall Meet was moved to the Devon Horse Show Grounds in 1946 and this became the site of the Annual Fall Meet. Also in 1946, an invitation to the Golden Jubilee of the automobile industry in Detroit came to AACA and it was decided to drive there with antique cars in a tour group. The name "Glidden Tour" was proposed and this became the first of the Revival Glidden Tours. It was this event that prompted Firestone to make up new tires for these historic vehicles. One of the Detroit highlights came when George Green received a gold-colored Hudson for the performance of his venerable Cross Country 1904 Oldsmobile. This first Tour proved so popular that with tires at last available, the Glidden Tour once again became a national institution. As these Tours entered new areas, greater interest in antique cars spread and grew, as did AACA itself.

Our antique cars were, at first, not much to look at, for the criterion was, "Will they run?". As competitive meets became well established the incentive for restoring the cars beyond running condition emerged. Mr. Fred C. Nicholson was the first Chief Judge for the Club. By 1947 the Club had devised a classification of categories for competition, divided into four categories, and 11 classes. In 1949, Fred Nicholson retired and Mr. Donald A. Gallager became the new Chief Judge. Two more categories were introduced, these being for Model T Ford and High Wheeler cars.

By 1951, the increasing numbers of competing cars necessitated developing a more comprehensive classification system. A committee was formed, which came up with the Junior/Senior system, used first at the Oct. 13, 1951 Devon Show. In time for the 1952 show season, a new eighteen category classification system was put into place that remains the basis for our present evolving vehicle classification system today. The new 1952 classifications included Classic cars, "less than 25 years old and pre-1940".

In 1953, the 200 participating cars literally overflowed the Devon Horse Show grounds. The next year our Fall Meet was invited to the Hershey Stadium. During the next 40+ years AACA experienced exciting growth and expansion. The Hershey Show has since assembled over 2,000 vehicles at one time, and the Flea Market has since become world renowned.

The demonstrated flexibility of the classification system, tuned to the times, has been complimentary to achieving this growth. In 1953 early Model A Ford cars were included in a new Class 18, "Antique Cars w/four-wheel brakes." No major changes occurred until February, 1957, when a new automotivedefinition and class was introduced, "Class 20 - Production Cars, 1930 to 25 years of age. In 1959 the 1928-1931 Model A's were pulled from Classes 18 and 20, and placed into their own class. In 1960, Production car and truck classes were frozen, with a 1935 cutoff date. A 1948 cutoff date was established for Classic cars. These rules remained basically unchanged until 1968, when a new rule was introduced, which allowed expansion by one year every other year. Then, the July-August, 1974 issue of ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE announced the inclusion of vehicles 25 years old and older into the classifications, effective February 1, 1975. This rule continues in effect today. During ensuing years, separate classes were implemented to separate Ford V-8 cars, Chevrolet Corvettes, Ford Thunderbirds, Ford Mustangs, 1955-57 Chevrolets, and others. New categories were developed for "specifically named Prestige cars" and "Limited Production and Prototype vehicles". In 1988 the Historical Preservation of Original Features (HPOF) class was implemented, and has proven to be very popular.

In the early years, the Club's financial business was handled by the Provident Tradesmen's Bank of Philadelphia. In 1959, at the invitation of the Hershey Estates, the financial operation of all Club business was moved to office space in the building occupied by the Hershey Museum. Mr. William E. Bomgardner became the first Business Manager, later Executive Director and Editor of the magazine. During this period, AACA purchased a building in Hershey, which is now National Headquarters. In 1986 Mr. Bomgardner retired and was succeeded by Mr. William H. Smith.

During the 1960's, Divisions were created to achieve placement of National Spring and Fall meets in all parts of the country. A cadre of volunteer National Judges was formed, and National Judging Schools began. An annual Grand National Meet was established at which only Senior vehicles would compete, and held for the first time in 1980, on the grounds of the International Salt Co. in Clarks Summit, Pa. In 1988, a Trade Show was added to the agenda of the Annual Meeting, and the Premier Founders Tour (1936 and later) was held in Huntsville, Alabama. In 1991 Roundtable Discussions at various National Meets and Tours were started, and in 1992 National Meet Seminars were first held in conjunction with a National Meet. In 1994 a new AACA Vintage Tour (1927 and earlier) was approved to augment the Reliability Tour (1914 and earlier) on odd years, beginning in 1997. Divisional Tours, shorter in duration than the previously established Tours, have been initiated, with the first being held in Manassas, Virginia during 1995.

Growing with the hobby has become a tradition with AACA as times have changed. From 850 members in 1948; 1,400 in 1949; 5,000 in 1954; 8,700 in 1959; 23,000 in 1969; 37,000 in 1976; to over 50,000 in AACA's Golden Jubilee year, 1985, growth has remained steady. Much of this growth can be credited to the outstanding dedication and achievement of the officers and directors, as well as the efforts and activities of the Regions and Chapters. Beginning with founding of the Illinois Region, the number of Regions and Chapters has grown to more than 400 today. Innovative approaches to enhance enjoyment by its members, has helped AACA achieve the enviable position of being the largest club in the world dedicated to furthering interest in, and preservation of,

antique automobiles and their history.

Hope this helps.

[Guest]

Bruce ~ In my humble opinion and that of many other long time AACA folk, that particular publication is a regrettable exercise, and not worth the purchase price. However, if the reader knows little or nothing about the AACA and its history, the book probably comes across as a worthwhile piece of reading material.

The background of the writing and publication of this book explains why it is not the work it should be to justify its being sold by our Club. Suffice it to say that we bacame involved with a gift horse and you usually don't look them in the mouth.

Some nice pictures though. I bought one out of loyalty to our organization. hvs

[Guest BruceW]

HVS,

Thanks for your comments on the publication. My posting was to only acknowledge its existence. Because I have seen very little of the content of the book, I am unable to honestly comment on its quality.

[Dave@Moon]

Half Price Books sells <span style="font-style: italic">The Official Book of the Antique Automobile club of America</span> for $29.98. If there's a store near you it is almost always in stock (as of now). Otherwise they can sell it to you online.

I bought one a few weeks ago at one of their stores marked down to $14.95. I haven't read the book yet. Did I get ripped off?

[Peter J.Heizmann]

Dave. At least you lucked out to your benefit with the purchase of the bumpers from an Anonymous. That is good.

As for the book, I assume you perused it to your satisfaction prior to buying it for a super low price. If not, why are you asking if you may have been ripped off?

Regards, Peter J.

[Dave@Moon]

How thoroughly can you "peruse" a 544 page book while standing in the bookstore? Especially when you dyslexia are seriously!

Actually I know I didn't get "ripped off". And what little I've read in the last 1/2 hour leads me to believe that the book is better for someone like me (relatively new to the club) than Howard might have led me to believe in the above post. (But then again, I wasn't President of <span style="font-style: italic">anything</span> in 1988, or now for that matter!)

By the way, is there anyone we know pictured in the book?

[imported_Bob Hill]

Did you get ripped off at $14.95? Well I know this will probably make some folks mad but that is not my intent. I bought one several years ago and to be honest I would not give you $5 for the book - I have never been so dissapointed in a book in all of my life. I am just glad I bought it for $25 versus the $60 AACA price.

Granted this is just my personally opinion- others may think it is a great book and if they do I certainly am not saying they are wrong. It just wasn't what I was expecting.

BOB

[29 Chandler]

I am looking foward to recieving my copy of AA. Earlier this year we picked up a group of old car stuff on eBay. It consisted of three items:

a small set of phtography cards of from the Melton Museum

a 1950 book, "Treasury of Early American Automobiles" with a chapter on Melton including a 1941 Hollywood, signed picture of Melton

and the most interesing item, a Composition Book from 1918 with repair notes from a mechanic detailing repairs on all the cars he worked on.

The last item I should really type out on the computer for you all to read. It is really interesting.

Happy Holidays

[1937hd45]

Jim, Who started this hobby has always been a riveting question. One of the many automotive items I collect are early museun catalogs. It is interesting (to me anyway) to trace the ownership of some of the great cars from pre WWII collections to the present. James Melton, Cameron Peck, Barney Pollard,and Austie Clark and a few others were the first generation of Great Collectors. Many of the top cars in their collections formed the core of William Harrah's collection. I hope owners of these cars make note of the fact that these cars were once in the hands of the founders of this hobby.

[Jim Dix]

I caught that!

I guess we have the same approach to the history and I don't think it can be written in its entirety. A massive book on AACA is one thing, and what I asked for.

I'd like to know about the guys out there collecting cars in the 30's, 40's, and the early 50's. I know Barnie Pollard was an early collector with his cars stacked on end, but what did he have and where did they go. Austin Clark had the museum on Long Island and I'm sure it's documented somewhere. A lot of early collectors were a bit eccentric and didn't want people poking around.

Early museum catalogs would be a great place to start. Maybe I should start looking for them.

Thanks to all who have contributed so far.

[ronbarn]

Don't forget William Swigart who had a legitimate claim to having the first antique auto museum. It was started in the '20s and is still open today in Huntingdon, PA.

[Guest]

Don't forget Lindley Bothwell on the west coast, the guy collected practically everything with an emphasis on early vehicles.